It was the straw that broke the camel’s back — or more precisely, the call that wasted too much time and money. Maybe it was a missed training opportunity, a forgotten verbal agreement, or worse, a game of he said, she said that nobody won.
Either way, it’s clear: it’s time to start recording phone calls. You just need to make sure you’re doing it the right way.
This post explains how to record business phone calls, plus six best practices to stay compliant and get the most out of every conversation.
The two different types of business call recordings
There are two ways to record business calls: on-demand or automatically.
- On-demand call recording: Reps manually start and stop call recordings, giving them control over when recordings are captured — like skipping small talk and jumping straight to the important details. The downside? You have to remember to hit record, which means calls (and key details) could get missed.
- Automatic call recording: Calls are recorded automatically based on your phone system’s settings. You won’t have to worry about hitting record or missing key details. Just keep an eye on storage limits— some providers charge extra for additional bandwidth.
Not sure which option is best for your business? With OpenPhone, you can switch between manual and automatic call recording anytime. Plus, you get unlimited storage, so you never have to pay extra as your business expands.
Let’s take a closer look at how to use OpenPhone’s call recording software.
How to record business calls in OpenPhone
Getting started with OpenPhone’s call recording feature is easy:
- Start with a free trial of OpenPhone and select the Business plan to access manual and automatic call recording.
- Launch the OpenPhone app on the web, desktop, or any Android or iOS mobile device.
- For automatic call recording: Under Settings, go to Phone numbers, then scroll down to Call assistant. Enable Auto record calls.
- For manual call recording: In the web or desktop app, you’ll see the call menu pop up on the bottom right-hand side of your screen. Press the Record button.
Record business calls in OpenPhone’s mobile app
- Answer or make a call on the Android or iPhone mobile apps
- Press the Record call button.
It should look like this on your iPhone:
Once you’ve recorded calls, the next step is putting them to good use. OpenPhone makes it easy to review and act on your recorded business phone calls:
- Access recordings in context. Every saved call recording appears in the customer’s contact thread alongside their conversation history. This means you can always revisit past interactions with full context.
- Easily collaborate as a team. Any rep assigned to a shared phone number can listen to call recordings, even if they weren’t on the call. They can also tag each other in internal threads to collaborate on solving problems and answering questions.
- Turn recordings into action. You can easily create action items and follow-up tasks using our call recording AI tools (specifically, call transcriptions and summaries). That way, you know what to do after a meeting without scrambling to remember key details or reviewing entire recordings.
Why should you record business calls?
Here’s why every small business owner (including you!) should be recording calls:
- Protect yourself from legal headaches. Call recordings keep your team accountable and avoid miscommunications with clients. For example, if a customer disputes what was said on a call, a recording can prevent legal trouble.
- Coach your team more effectively. Instead of guessing where reps can improve, listen to actual calls and identify coaching opportunities. If you’re not sure where to look, call tags that use AI to analyze phone calls can scan transcripts for key phrases and identify customer sentiment. This will help you identify conversations that could use additional coaching.
- Catch and fix customer issues faster. Call recordings give you a better idea of what customers need, making it easier to catch and resolve bad customer experiences early — before they lead to negative reviews.
- Make it easier for your team to work together: When everyone on your team can listen to past calls, you won’t need endless back-and-forth messages trying to piece together what was said.
- Follow up more efficiently: No more relying on memory or scattered notes. Call recordings capture key details automatically, which means you can send better follow-ups without asking the customer to repeat themselves.
- Gather insights to solve problems proactively: Reviewing past calls helps you spot trends and better understand customer needs. For example, withyou can use tools like OpenPhone’s AI call tags automatically categorize conversations by topic, urgency, or customer sentiment. If you notice frequent pricing questions, for example, you could add an FAQ message to your interactive voice response (IVR) phone menu to address them upfront.
What are the legal considerations when recording business calls?
Just because call recording is common in business doesn’t mean it’s always legal. Recording a conversation without proper consent could lead to serious legal trouble.
There are also strict regulations on how phone call data can be recorded, stored, and used. Failing to comply could result in fines, lawsuits, or a loss of customer trust.
To make matters more complex, call recording laws vary by state and country. This can make call recording compliance tricky when calling customers across regions.
Most businesses fall under one of two legal standards:
- One-party consent laws (such as those in Canada and states like Alabama and Texas) allow you to record calls as long as one person on the call agrees. In other words, you don’t need to let customers know you’re recording.
- Two-party (or all-party) consent laws (like those in California, Florida, or Illinois) require permission from everyone on the call. This applies to one-on-one calls and conference calls.
As a best practice, aim for all-party consent to avoid legal gray areas when calling customers across different locations. The easiest way to do this is to add an automatic call recording disclosure to your phone system’s greeting, such as:
“This call may be recorded for customer service quality assurance.”
You should also keep an eye on service and sales call recordings to make sure reps are following your call recording policy. If reps forget to disclose recordings or deliver the message too late, highlight the issue in coaching sessions or refresher training.
💡Related: How to legally record phone calls
5 best practices when recording business calls
Here’s how to get the most out of your audio recordings:
1. Tell people they’re being recorded
No one likes being recorded without their knowledge. And in some cases, it could lead to legal action. A simple heads-up builds trust with customers and keeps you compliant.
2. Skip taking notes by hand
You don’t want to sit through hour-long recordings, but scribbling notes on paper isn’t ideal, either.
That’s where call transcription comes in. It converts your call into text so you can quickly review conversations anytime. With OpenPhone, you can even search for keywords in your transcriptions, making it easy to find the call you need in seconds.
You can also use OpenPhone to get call summaries of these transcriptions, which allow you to recap entire conversations in just a few bullet points.
3. Make sure recordings are high-quality
A call recording full of static or muffled voices won’t help anyone. Unfortunately, that’s often the reality with free or low-quality call recording software — you get what you pay for. Poor audio can create more problems than it solves.
To avoid this, invest in a reliable phone system known for delivering crystal-clear audio. High-quality sound ensures accurate transcripts and avoids miscommunications caused by garbled recordings.
4. Keep your tech up to date without extra work
Integrating your business phone system with your CRM helps you automatically log call activity like voicemails and recordings. That way, everyone on your team has the same up-to-date information. Instead of chasing down details or piecing together conversations, your CRM becomes the single source of truth.
But the right VoIP call recording system should integrate with more than just your CRM. OpenPhone’s Zapier and Make integrations, for example, connect to more than 7,000 third-party apps. This makes it easy to push recordings to wherever your team works, whether that’s an email account, a Slack channel, or a revenue intelligence platform like Gong.
5. Share recordings of positive conversations and give kudos
Call recording makes accountability easier, but it’s not always about highlighting mistakes. You can also use recordings to celebrate successes and identify key moments your team will want to replicate.
For example, sharing recordings of great conversations sets expectations for the team, improves training, and makes onboarding new reps easier. Most importantly, it allows you to recognize team members for their well-deserved wins.
OpenPhone: The best way to record business phone calls
Business calls should be about connecting with customers — not scrambling to take notes or stressing about record-keeping. That’s why call recordings are a no-brainer for growing businesses. Thankfully, business phone systems like OpenPhone make it easy.
OpenPhone offers call recording features on every plan so your team can work together to record calls. But you should also know we offer more than just call recording: you can make free calls in the US and Canada, set up auto-replies, schedule texts, and create snippets (pre-saved text messages) to help your team do more in a day.
Try all these features (and more) by signing up for OpenPhone’s free seven-day trial.
FAQs
Recording employee phone calls depends on where you live and who you work for. In most areas, companies must have the permission of their employees to legally record their calls.
As a customer, you can record customer service calls based on the recording laws in your state (either one-party or two-party). If you hear a disclosure in the phone menu greeting, you’ve technically been given consent to record.
As long as you maintain your OpenPhone account and phone number, you can reference recorded phone conversations indefinitely from any device with a WiFi connection.
You can record business calls on your phone using a call recording app like OpenPhone. It’s easier to stay compliant with a business phone system that lets you automate call recording and add disclosures before customers connect with your team.
